Microsoft told the Liberty Alliance that it would seek certification for SAML's Service Provider (SP) Lite, Identity Provider (IdP) Lite and eGov profiles. The SP Lite and IdP Lite profiles are typically included in testing by vendors because the profiles are the ones most actively used by companies federating identities.

Microsoft specifically asked Liberty to publicize its entry into the testing in hopes of attracting as many other vendors as possible. The previous round of testing was done with CA, NTT Software, Ping Identity, RSA and Ubisecure. The results of the tests can be found       

The Liberty Alliance SAML 2.0 testing has proven useful for weeding out problems with implementations of the SAML specification. Last year, the testing uncovered a flaw in s implementation of SAML 2.0 in Google Apps, an error that the company later fixed.

The upcoming SAML 2.0 interoperability test is the third one put on by the Drummond Group, and the first to test against the new eGovernment SAML 2.0 profile recently released by Liberty Alliance.

The testing will be "full matrix," meaning all participants must test against each other. The test is conducted over the Internet from points around the globe using real-world scenarios between service providers and identity providers as defined by SAML 2.0.